


Marry Me.

by 50_points_for_ravenclaw



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, And angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Lots of it, M/M, Marriage Proposal, so much tooth-rotting fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:17:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3697109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50_points_for_ravenclaw/pseuds/50_points_for_ravenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek first asks him on their five year anniversary. It’s perfect really. A nice round number. They’d been living together for almost three years, rented an apartment with their shared income, and even adopted a cat together a year after that. So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise when Derek asks him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marry Me.

Derek first asks him on their five year anniversary. It’s perfect really. A nice round number. They’d been living together for almost three years, rented an apartment with their shared income, and even adopted a cat together a year after that. So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise when Derek asks him.

They aren’t doing anything too special to celebrate the day like all their friends think they should be (they’ve never been big on anniversaries). Instead, Stiles had convinced Derek to stay in and watch a movie—the one they’d gone to see on their first date (see he can be romantic) and gorge themselves on popcorn. Stiles is trying to hold in tears as Raleigh and Mako touch foreheads before the ending credits of Pacific Rim while Derek dutifully pretends he doesn’t notice when he feels something being slipped into his palm.

Wiping away a stray tear, he looks down and frowns just slightly at the simple ring laid out there against his skin. With confusion, he turns to Derek who’s smiling nervously at him and it all makes sense.

“Will you marry me?” Derek breathes, not bothering with a speech or declaration because they both know how they feel and it would just be redundant.

Stiles gapes at him for a moment before swallowing heavily, grabbing Derek’s hand and placing the ring there, closing the other man’s fingers over it into a fist. He shoots him a wobbly smile, brushing his fingers against Derek’s cheek.

“Not yet,” he says, stroking his thumbs over the line of Derek’s brow in order to smooth the wrinkle that formed there at his words.

They don’t really talk about it but Stiles can tell over the next few days that the whole situation bothers Derek, even if the man won’t admit it out loud. He isn’t sure how to remedy it though because he knows it would be unfair to both of them if he accepts the proposal. He just isn’t ready.

He can’t really explain it. It’s nothing to do with Derek or their relationship, oddly enough, but more of a personal preference. Sure, Stiles had thought about marrying his boyfriend before, plenty of times, but it was never in context of actually wanting to. He’d never really planned to get married ever since he was young. He’d planned to go to NYU, get his graduate degree and then move back home, take care of his dad while he worked and saw where things went on the relationship front. He certainly never expected to meet Derek Hale.

Derek Hale: the owner of a small fortune he’d received through the painful loss of the majority of his family. Derek Hale: the quiet yet sharp business man who literally bumped into him while in line for coffee. Derek Hale: the manager of his own bookstore simply because he loved to read. He was more than Stiles could ever ask for and more than he had ever planned for.

And it would be so easy to say yes. Expected. But he can’t.

Derek seems to recover from the rejection though over the next couple weeks, not once mentioning that night so Stiles doesn’t either. They move on, continue how they’d been. Stiles gets a job at an up and coming art gallery as a curator and they celebrate by going out to dinner. Derek’s younger sister Cora comes to visit them and informs them that she’d like to finally rebuild their childhood home, the one that burned down with their family inside. Derek tears up at the idea but agrees.

And then suddenly they’re making frequent visits back to Beacon Hills, meeting with construction workers and insulation specialists. For the first time since high school, Stiles sees his dad more than three times a year (and what a surprise that had been to learn that they’d come from the same town—just a few miles apart—yet didn’t meet until they’d travelled to the other coast).

It’s good. It’s nice. It’s hectic. It takes just over a year to finish the house because Cora and Derek bicker over the finer details, wanting nothing less than perfection. And when it’s done, they spend the night there, among freshly painted walls and brand new furniture and if Derek cries on Stiles shoulder, he isn’t going to tell anyone. And it’s all just so good.

By the time they get settled back in New York, no plans of returning to California in the near future, the couple find themselves actually missing it. They live on sluggishly for a couple months until one night when Stiles mentions how they rebuilt the house only for it to sit empty and Derek’s face lights up. Just a few weeks later they’re making preparations to move back to Beacon Hills.

This is what Stiles had always wanted—to go home. And he’s so so happy because even though he never planned on having Derek with him, his boyfriend is an unexpected bonus.

It doesn’t take long for them to get into the swing of things. The sheriff has a barbecue and invites everyone they know. For the first time, Stiles spends the day with all of his friends and family, Derek at his side, without it being a holiday. Cora comes to the house so often, Stiles is half tempted to ask her to just move in. He feels slightly guilty because this was hers once but she seems okay with the situation. And one night when she and Stiles are spending the evening together, getting drunk and gossiping like they’re in high school while Derek stays late to close up his new bookstore for the night, she tells Stiles she doesn’t think she’d be able to live here again. It hurts too much. And Stiles feels a little better about the whole thing.

It’s almost an entire two years after their five year anniversary that the topic comes up again. They’re eating lunch together on their breaks from work at the diner they’d immediately claimed as _their place_ when they first moved back. Derek is quieter than usual so Stiles fills the extra silence with more of his babbling while shooting him concerned looks. It isn’t until Derek reaches into his pocket and places a ring, the same as last time, on the table between them, that he understands and falls silent.

Derek’s staring at him with this imploring look, eyes hopeful. He reaches across the table, grabs Stiles’ hand and rubs his thumb along the skin of his pointer finger.

“I know you weren’t ready before and I don’t want to make this a big deal,” he starts. Apparently this time he has going to do a speech. “And I know we haven’t really talked about it. But I feel like we’ve reached the point in our lives where we’ve gone as far as we can go and the only thing left to do is get married.” Stiles breathes in shakily. “I love you more than anything and I already plan on spending the rest of my life with you no matter what. It would be nice to make it official, though.” With a smile, Derek picks up the ring holding it just in front of Stiles’ ringer finger. “So…Genim Stilinski, will you marry me?”

It’s quiet for a moment and Stiles bites his lips against a frown. Clenching his jaw, he slips his hand from Derek’s grasp, staring at the ring intently.

“Not yet,” he whispers.

He can almost feel the way Derek’s face falls and he knows that this time he won’t be able to fix it with a gentle caress because Derek is already pulling away, stuffing the ring back in his pocket. Some cash is thrown on the table as he mumbles about needing to get back to the shop, leaving the restaurant and Stiles without another word. Stiles doesn’t make any moves to stop him.

When he goes to teach his afternoon class at the local community college, his brain feels clouded and his emotions tangled. He’s not sure what he teaches but knows that he gives up halfway through the class and assigns some useless figure drawing exercises. His students seem to understand something is wrong because they don’t protest even though they bypassed this section weeks ago.

That night, after he’s taken some time in his office to go over lesson plans in order to try and get his mind off things, he drives to his father’s house instead of back to the preserve where Derek’s childhood home stands. The retired sheriff doesn’t ask for an explanation when he sees Stiles’ expression, only pulls his son into a tight hug and offers to make him some coffee.

Stiles had momentarily thought about going to Scott and Allison’s but knew seeing the happily _married_ couple would hurt more than anything else. So he spends the night with his dad, curled up on the couch and sipping absentmindedly at the coffee he really shouldn’t be drinking so late at night. They talk for hours, never about Derek, John is careful to note. They reminisce about Stiles’ childhood and about Claudia and about her last few days instead and then suddenly Stiles is crying, his head on his father’s shoulder while the older man rubs his back soothingly. They stay that way for almost two hours.

By the time he has it out of his system, Stiles is almost asleep and so John rouses him and practically drags him up the stairs to his old bedroom which is now a nicely decorated guest bedroom (thanks to Melissa McCall). Only moments after hitting the mattress, Stiles is asleep, despite the cup of coffee.

He feels a bit sheepish when he wakes up the next morning and remembers everything. John is awake and cooking some eggs when he eventually convinces himself to stumble downstairs and he sends Stiles a long searching look.

“What’s going on, son?” he asks as he places a plate of eggs and toast in front Stiles, along with a glass of orange juice.

Stiles sighs and explains.

John doesn’t seem too surprised by what he hears to Stiles’ confusion and he reveals that Derek had called that morning, worried when he hadn’t come home. Stiles stares at the counter top for a long time, gritting his teeth.

“Is there something wrong with me?” he murmurs so quietly John almost misses it.

His father sighs and sits at the barstool next to him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with you kid. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to get married.”

Stiles doesn’t respond and continues to stare blankly at the counter.

“I think you really need to ask yourself why,” John goes on. “And I think you need to talk to Derek about it.”

Stiles frowns but nods in agreement. He knew that already but hearing it from his dad made it a little easier to push himself into actually doing it. With a clap of his hand to his son’s shoulder, John stood and cleaned away the dishes.

Luckily, it’s a Saturday so Stiles doesn’t have to worry about teaching classes and he’s able to go home just a few hours later. Derek keeps the store open for a shorter day on Saturdays so he has another few hours to himself to prepare for the talk he plans on having with him. It isn’t until he hears the sound of Derek coming through the front door that he realizes that he’d spent the rest of his alone time distracting himself instead.

“Are you okay?” is the first thing Derek says when he finds Stiles standing nervously in their bedroom.

“I’m fine,” he mutters in return. “Are you?”

Derek nods jerkily. He goes about taking his jacket and shoes off, placing them in their correct places inside their shared closet (he had a thing about organization) before he slumps on the bed. After a moment Stiles joins him.

“I should have told you where I was last night,” he starts out. “I’m sorry.”

“I was worried,” Derek says.

“I know.”

Derek runs his fingers through his hair until his head is bowed over his knees, elbows propped on his thighs so he can keep his fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck. He doesn’t say anything else and Stiles tried to think of the best way to bring up what they really need to talk about.

“I love you,” he blurts and then winces but decides to go with it. “I know you know that. I love you so so much. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too.” Derek has raised his head now and is staring at him with an unreadable expression which is a little scary because Stiles prides himself on being able to read every one of Derek’s expressions.

“But you don’t want to get married,” he says dejectedly.

“I don’t know,” Stiles answers truthfully. “And it has nothing to do with you. I’m not trying to pull some cliché line on you but it’s true. This is all me. I never really wanted to get married. I never _planned_ on it. I—”

“I never planned on it either, Stiles,” Derek says with a little bit of heat. “And then I met you.”

“Are you mad at me for not wanting marriage?” Stiles asked defensively. “I never said I wanted to. We never even discussed it.”

“I’m not _mad_ at you. I’m frustrated because I feel like that’s what all of this has been leading up to and now it’s like you’re holding back on me,” Derek grits out. He stands and begins to pace, running his hands through his hair, over his face and neck.

“My stand on this doesn’t affect how I feel about you.”

“Doesn’t it though?”

Stiles bites his lip, fighting against the tears that are beginning to burn at the corners of his eyes. He takes a deep breathe, staring at his hands which are clenched together in his lap.

“Does it, Stiles?” Derek asked quietly.

“No,” he says with conviction, looking up to meet Derek’s gaze. “I love you. Just because I don’t want to sign some stupid piece of paper, doesn’t mean that isn’t true.”

Derek inhales sharply, turning away to begin pacing again. “Stupid piece of paper,” he mutters to himself incredulously.

“Why do you want to get married so bad, Derek?” Stiles says.

“Because I love you and that’s what people do when they love someone,” Derek answers instantly, frustration still clear in his voice. “Why _don’t_ you?”

“I just don’t. Is that so weird?” Stiles snaps back. “Like I said, I never planned for this. I never planned for you.”

Derek remains quiet, eyes averted to the floor. “Do you regret this then? Us?” he asks after such a long pause, Stiles wasn’t actually expecting to hear anymore. At his boyfriend’s words though, he starts shaking his head vehemently.

“No,” he says. “No, no, no. I don’t regret anything. I told you, Derek. I love you. I just…I need time.”

“How much time, Stiles?” Derek says, sounding almost as if he’s pleading. “How much longer? We’ve already been together seven years. Do you want a family some day? Kids? Grand kids? Do you see anything more in our future at all?”

“Derek, please…” Stiles murmurs.

“Because I want that, Stiles. I want all of it. With you. But if that’s not what you want then—” He cuts himself off and Stiles gapes up at him.

“Then what?” Stiles whispers. “Then you don’t want to be with me anymore?”

“Of course I want to be with you,” Derek says as he falls back on the bed, thigh pressed against Stiles’. “I just need to know these things. They’re a big part of life, of what I want out of my life, and I need to know if you want them, too.”

“I want everything with you, Derek,” Stiles says. “God, I just don’t know! The only family I’ve known for so long is my dad and Scott. Even before my mom died all I had was three people. I didn’t grow up around family all of the time. I don’t know what that’s like. And it sounds amazing but I don’t even know how to begin planning for something like that.”

“Everything doesn’t need to be planned out,” Derek argues quietly.

“I don’t know why I feel this way,” Stiles gets out eventually. “Maybe I’m just scared. The only married couples I’ve seen have fallen apart in one way or another and I’m scared that that will happen to us. Who knows what will happen to Scott and Allison or Lydia and Jackson. If they’ll last. And I don’t want that to be even the slightest question when it comes to us. I just want to know 100% that I’m not going to lose you at some point.”

Stiles sucks in a breath, fighting back a sob and shutting his eyes against tears that are burning once more. After a pause, he feels Derek’s hand run along his shoulder, pulling him into his chest and passing his fingers through his hair. “You’re not going to lose me,” Derek mumbles from where his lips are pressed to Stiles’ forehead. “But we can wait. If that’s what you really want, then we’ll wait.”

“I can’t do that to you,” Stiles says, voice catching on his words as he tries to stay under control.

“It’s my choice,” Derek tells him. “We can wait.”

Stiles nods hesitantly, burying his face against Derek’s chest, clutching at the shirt there with shaky fingers and ignoring the way the tears he’d been fighting back are now creating a dark wet spot on the other man’s shoulder. They don’t say anything as they crawl under the covers, kicking off their pants as they go. Derek only continues to hold Stiles against his chest, his nose buried in his hair until they fall asleep like that.

Things are tense for a while afterwards. It feels almost like Stiles and Derek are tiptoeing around each other, scared to set the other off or chase him away. They’re friends notice the difference but don’t say anything, only asking if everything is okay. Stiles takes the time one night when he and Scott are spending some quality time together to explain what’s been going on and his friend takes it well. He doesn’t try to offer advice because he wouldn’t know where to ever begin. Scott just sits with him and listens until Stiles is exhausted and falls asleep on his couch.

When Cora next comes to visit, she seems to notice some of the tension but her presence also seems to make it dissipate as well. Her news that she’s officially moving back to Beacon Hills breaks it all together. She cooks them dinner, some sort of Brazilian meal that she discovered while living in South America, and for the first time in a couple months, Stiles and Derek sit together and laugh, touching fingers, temples, lips. It feels like before.

They take a week for vacation to Yosemite National Park in the summer since Stiles doesn’t have classes and Cora said she would look after the shop. It’s Derek’s favorite vacation spot because he used to always go with his family and Stiles has never been so they spend more money than they probably should to rent a nice cabin for seven days. The vacation is a nice break from reality and is exactly what they need to fix things between them. When they get back, Stiles makes sure to annoy everyone with the large amount of pictures he’d taken.

It’s just getting into the new school year when Scott and Allison announce that they’re expecting. Everyone is beyond excited about the news, none more than Lydia who proceeds to drag Stiles all around the mall in search of baby clothes (“As god-parents, it’s our responsibility to make sure this baby is the most stylish baby ever known”). Stiles doesn’t have the heart to tell her that they still have seven months until the baby is actually born. He lets himself be dragged from store to store, carrying onesies, socks, hats, dresses, pants, and even a graphic t-shirt or two that Lydia allows him to pick out and then goes home to Derek who spends the night taking care of his achy feet and sleepy mind.

Stiles watches in amusement over the next few months as Scott progressively gets more and more overbearing, to the point where it looks like Allison may actually punch him in the face. He takes his friend out one night, much to Allison’s relief, and gets him drunk (“You won’t be able to do this soon”) and somehow ends up comforting Scott in the jeep outside his house.

“I don’t want to be like my dad, Stiles,” he says quietly, head lolling against the headrest of his seat.

“Hey, you’re nothing like him, okay?” Stiles says sternly. “You are an amazing friend and husband and you’re going to be an even more amazing dad.” Scott smiles weakly. “You’re the most decent human being I know, Scott. And my dad used to be the sheriff.” His friend huffs out a laugh. “And you’re not alone you know. You have me and Derek, Lydia, your mom, _Allison_. We’ll always be here for you. You don’t have to have everything figured out right now.”

“Thanks, man,” Scott murmurs with a grateful look before leaning across the center console to give Stiles an awkward hug.

Just as Scott is moving to get out of the car, he stops and turns to look at Stiles searchingly. “You know…you should take your own advice,” he says gently and doesn’t leave until Stiles sends him a nod.

His best friend’s words don’t leave Stiles’ thoughts for the rest of the night. He goes home to find Derek reading in bed and slips in beside him, kissing at whatever skin he can find as softly as he can. Derek watches him with amusement and a little bit of confusion but allows it, even when Stiles takes his book from his hand, setting it on the bedside table, and moves to push his sweatpants down. And for a little while, he forgets Scott’s advice, too absorbed in the feel of Derek’s bare skin against his own and the sound of Derek’s heavy breathing and whispers against his ear. Only when he’s lying in his boyfriend’s arms, about to slip into sleep does Stiles remember and glance down at his ring finger.

It’s just a few weeks later, during a Christmas get together at their place (the first of many) that Derek asks again. He’s spread out in his favorite armchair, Stiles practically sitting in his lap even though he started out on the arm of the chair. Derek wraps his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, nuzzling at his neck softly and leans up to speak quietly against his ear.

“Will you marry me?” he says so quietly it’s impossible for Stiles to determine how he’s feeling by his voice.

He twists around, gazing at Derek with uncertain eyes, feeling the seed that Scott had planted in his mind begin to grow. Pressing a chaste kiss to Derek’s lips he shakes his head just the slightest bit.

“Not yet,” he whispers.

This time, Derek must see something in his expression, something that says _soon_ because he only nods and gives him a smile, shifting forward to kiss him again. Their friends begin to protest when they don’t pull away right away and Stiles laughs into the kiss, breaking away to wave away their complaints.

Even though Stiles declined, he can’t keep his mind from wandering afterwards. Like Scott and Derek have both told him, not everything needs to be planned out to the last detail like he always wants it to be. He and Derek don’t have to know exactly what’s to happen in their future. He isn’t even sure if he would want a big wedding or have kids right away. And for the first time, that thought of not knowing doesn’t scare him. If anything, it’s almost exciting.

That’s how he ends up asking. Unplanned. Spontaneous. Out of the blue.

It’s just a couple weeks after New Year’s when Stiles finds himself sitting at the breakfast bar in only his boxers while he sips at his tea and watches Derek scramble some eggs for breakfast. Sitting there so casually, getting to see his boyfriend do something so mundane and realizing that he’s been lucky enough to experience this for almost eight years now makes something stir inside him. Because he wants to be able to experience this for the rest of his life. He wants it more than anything. He wants to see the golden glint of a wedding ring on Derek’s finger, reflecting the morning sunlight that comes through the little window over the kitchen sink. He wants to reprimand his kids for running around the house at such an ungodly hour while Derek pretends he isn’t laughing. He wants it all.

So, Stiles stands and walks over to Derek, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist and pressing his forehead into the muscles of his back. Derek sighs, leaning into the touch while his hands pause over the stove. They stay like that in silence as Derek finishes cooking, moving the pan of eggs off the hot burner and then turning around to kiss Stiles’ forehead with a gentle smile.

“Marry me,” Stiles breathes, eyes wide as they roam over Derek’s sleep ruffled face.

His boyfriend stiffens in surprise, leaning back a little to appraise him with a mix of excitement and confusion. Stiles refrains from saying anything else, not wanting to push or mess the whole thing up. Because he knows Derek has been wanting this for years and he wants him to know that he’s ready now. That he wants it, too.

He simply repeats himself, with a little more conviction. “Marry me.”

It’s not a question, more of a request. He doesn’t want to leave room for rejection even though he knows he’s already done just that to Derek three times before. Stiles keeps eye contact, expression soft and open and Derek is helpless but to lean forward and kiss him.

“Okay,” he agrees when he pulls away enough to speak but still close enough that their lips brush.

Stiles smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> Send me prompts at my Tumblr: http://50-points-for-ravenclaw.tumblr.com
> 
> I've been wanting to write this one for a while so yay!


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